The White Lotus star says they were ‘kind of bummed’ to be killed off

The White Lotus season two ended with a big splash – and the star who was killed off is “kind of bummed” about it.

Since the first episode teased a tragedy in October, viewers knew that the series would conclude with the body of a hotel guest floating in the Ionian Sea.

And in the final instalment, which aired on Monday 12 December, fans of the show finally found out who that guest was.

Warning: major spoilers ahead for ‘The White Lotus’ season two episode seven

The body in the water belonged to chaotic millionaire Tanya (Jennifer Coolidge), who in the last episode – upon discovering a suspicious connection between her estranged husband Greg (Jon Gries) and her new friend Quentin (Tom Hollander) – finally realises Quentin is out to get her.

She is seen struggling to escape from Quentin’s yacht as she is plied with more and more white wine.

Eventually, she ends up shooting Quentin and his posse of “high-end gays” dead, with a gun she finds in the bag of the mafioso sent to kill her, Niccoló (Stefano Gianino).

In an attempt to escape the scene of the crime, Tanya jumps off the yacht’s high deck to try to reach a smaller boat below. But she misses, and instead hits her head on the edge of the vessel, before drowning the ocean.

Speaking to Variety about the moment she found out she’d been killed off, Coolidge said: “I wasn’t happy about it! But Mike White’s a genius – I knew my ending would be good.

“When he told me I was going to die, he didn’t have the ending yet, he hadn’t completely orchestrated it out. I was kind of bummed, but Mike knows how to tell a story better than anyone I know, so I knew I just had to trust it.

“You can’t talk Mike White out of anything, so I’ll just have to go on some different adventures this year and maybe go visit Mike when they’re filming [season three].”

Explaining why Tanya didn’t leave the boat on the ladder provided, Coolidge said: “Tanya didn’t notice! Mike White thinks it’s very funny that I can handle big things, but a little thing will be my demise.

“Like, my technical inabilities with my phone or something will keep me from accomplishing something big. These small things throw me off. It was so in line with who I am – I even heard Mike say that to somebody. Not noticing something that could save my life.”

Read White’s explanation for the finale here, and the clues you might have missed in the lead-up, here.